It&#39;s Go To The Show Time!!!

There is a big deal happening in the screw machine industry soon. For three days in April, the center of the screw machine industry will take up temporary residence in the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center. From April 26 through 28, the first Precision Machining Technology Show opens for your perusal. This

There is a big deal happening in the screw machine industry soon. For three days in April, the center of the screw machine industry will take up temporary residence in the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center. From April 26 through 28, the first Precision Machining Technology Show opens for your perusal. This is an important event for the precision parts manufacturing business. For the first time in North America, a trade show dedicated exclusively to the screw machine industry has been assembled. The only other such exhibition that we know of is called Simodec, and it's held in France in even numbered years.

Unlike many of the general interest industrial trade shows, PMTS is chock full of companies that are only about the screw machine business. Every aisle and booth has something germane to the manufacturing of precision turned parts. Attendees will feel like a kid in a candy store because this show is so focused.

The PMPA (Precision Machined Products Association), and magazines Modern Machine Shop and Production Machining are the sponsors for this event. Response has been overwhelming.

Visitors to the show will see products and services from more than 150 exhibitors, all focused on the screw machine business. PMTS represents an international assembly of manufacturers that make machine tools, cutting tools, holders, attachments, computer software, accessories, auxiliary equipment, equipment for support and for secondary operations and more. What's nice about this show is you don't have to search these companies out. They're all right there in front of you.

Unless you've been holed up in a cave, the influence of computers and electronics on the manufacturing process cannot have escaped your notice. At PMTS, a special computer technology pavilion will house software and hardware exhibitors. The pavilion is like a show within a show and is a convenient way for attendees to see the latest CAD/CAM, shop control, measurement, inspection, networking and office automation technologies. Moreover, the computer technology within the pavilion is focused on the unique needs of the screw machine business.

While PMTS is indeed a trade show, it's also an opportunity for an industry to come together—like a reunion. Concurrent with the exhibition is a series of technical sessions designed to deliver information about new technological developments, cost reduction strategies and improving efficiency in the shop. These sessions will be conducted by industry experts, who are also your peers. Admittance to these sessions and to the show is free.

So why the hard sell on attending the PMTS? It's really very simple. This is an important event for the industry. For some time the industry has been blessed with good levels of orders. Many shops have simply been too busy shipping the job to worry much about a downturn.

Well, for some of the industry, the downturn is here. Hopefully the twin stimuli of lower interest rates and an across the board tax cut, retroactive to January, will do the trick of kick starting the economy before any more damage is done. However with current business conditions slow, PMTS is an opportunity. It affords a venue to exchange ideas and solutions to manufacturing and business problems that are common to you and others in the screw machine industry.

There is an old expression that says showing up is 90 percent of life. In the case of PMTS that's especially true. We all know the ups and downs of the metalworking business. But when times are slower, it's often an opportunity to get the business ready for when the good times come back.